Oven appliance with insulated heating element

ABSTRACT

An oven appliance includes a cabinet and a chamber defined within the cabinet for receipt of food items for cooking. A heating element is positioned within or proximate to the chamber. The heating element may be partially enclosed by thermal insulation. The heating element may include an outer surface. The outer surface of the heating element may be made up of a first portion which is separated from the chamber by a thermal insulation and a second portion which is exposed to the chamber.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present subject matter relates generally to oven appliances, and more particularly to oven appliances including an insulated heating element.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Oven appliances generally include a cabinet that defines a cooking chamber for cooking food items therein, such as by baking or broiling the food items. To heat the cooking chamber for cooking, oven appliances include one or more heating elements positioned in the cooking chamber, such as at a top portion, bottom portion, side portion, or combinations thereof, in the cooking chamber. Some oven appliances also include a convection heating element and fan for convection cooking cycles. The heating element or elements may be used for various cycles of the oven appliance, such as a preheat cycle, a cooking cycle, or a self-cleaning cycle.

The heating elements are typically fully exposed to the cooking chamber and/or air within the oven appliance, such as along or around an entire perimeter or circumference of the heating elements. In many cases, the heating elements are positioned away from the center of the cooking chamber, such as at or near a top end or top wall of the cooking chamber, or at or near a bottom wall of the cooking chamber. Thus, a side of the heating element is oriented towards and directs heat to the adjacent wall of the cooking chamber, rather than to or towards food items within the interior of the cooking chamber.

Accordingly, oven appliances which provide improved, such as more concentrated or intense, heating to food items therein are desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be apparent from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.

In one exemplary embodiment, the present subject matter is directed to an oven appliance. The oven appliance oven appliance includes a cabinet. The cabinet defines a vertical direction, a lateral direction and a transverse direction. The vertical, lateral and transverse directions are mutually perpendicular. The cabinet defines a cooking chamber configured for receipt of food items for cooking. The oven appliance also includes a heating element positioned within or proximate to the chamber. The heating element is partially enclosed by thermal insulation.

In another exemplary embodiment, an oven appliance is provided. The oven appliance includes a cabinet that defines a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction. The vertical, lateral, and transverse directions are mutually perpendicular. The cabinet includes a front portion spaced apart from a back portion along the transverse direction and a left side spaced apart from a right side along the lateral direction. The oven appliance also includes a chamber defined within the cabinet for receipt of food items for cooking. A heating element is positioned within or proximate to the chamber. An outer surface of the heating element consists of a first portion which is separated from the chamber by a thermal insulation and a second portion which is exposed to the chamber.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures.

FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of an oven appliance according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present subject matter.

FIG. 2 provides a section view of the oven appliance of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 provides a close up view of a heating element for an oven appliance according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present subject matter.

FIG. 4 provides a close up view of a heating element for an oven appliance according to the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. The detailed description uses numerical and letter designations to refer to features in the drawings. Like or similar designations in the drawings and description have been used to refer to like or similar parts of the disclosure. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

As used herein, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third” may be used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are not intended to signify location or importance of the individual components. As used herein, terms of approximation, such as “generally,” or “about” include values within ten percent greater or less than the stated value. When used in the context of an angle or direction, such terms include within ten degrees greater or less than the stated angle or direction. For example, “generally vertical” includes directions within ten degrees of vertical in any direction, e.g., clockwise or counter-clockwise.

FIG. 1 provides a front perspective view of an oven appliance 100 according to exemplary embodiments of the present subject matter. FIG. 2 provides a section view of exemplary oven appliance 100 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1. Oven appliance 100 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as a free-standing range oven appliance, but it will be appreciated that oven appliance 100 is provided by way of example only and is not intended to limit the present subject matter in any aspect. Thus, the present subject matter may be used with other oven appliance configurations, e.g., wall ovens and/or oven appliances that define one or more interior cavities for the receipt of food items and/or having different pan or rack arrangements than what is shown in FIG. 2.

Oven appliance 100 includes an insulated cabinet 102 with an interior cooking chamber 104 defined by an interior surface 105 of cabinet 102. Cooking chamber 104 is configured for receipt of one or more food items to be cooked. Cabinet 102 extends between a bottom portion 130 and a top portion 132 along a vertical direction V. Cabinet 102 also extends between a front portion 107 and a back portion 109 along a transverse direction T and between a first side 110 and a second side 112 along a lateral direction L. Vertical direction V, lateral direction L, and transverse direction T are mutually perpendicular and form an orthogonal direction system.

Oven appliance 100 includes a door 106 rotatably mounted to cabinet 102, e.g., with a hinge (not shown). A handle 108 is mounted to door 106 and assists a user with opening and closing door 106. For example, a user can pull or push handle 108 to open or close door 106 to access cooking chamber 104. Oven appliance 100 includes a seal (not shown) between door 106 and cabinet 102 that maintains heat and cooking fumes within cooking chamber 104 when door 106 is closed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Multiple parallel glass panes 122 provide for viewing the contents of cooking chamber 104 when door 106 is closed and provide insulation for cooking chamber 104. A baking rack 124 is positioned in cooking chamber 104 for receipt of food items or utensils containing food items. Baking rack 124 is slidably received onto embossed ribs or sliding rails 126 such that rack 124 may be conveniently moved into and out of cooking chamber 104 when door 106 is open.

A top heating element or broil element 142 is positioned in cooking chamber 104 of cabinet 102 proximate top portion 132 of cabinet 102. Top heating element 142 is used to heat cooking chamber 104 for both cooking/broiling and cleaning of oven appliance 100. Like heating assembly 140, the size and heat output of top heating element 142 can be selected based on, e.g., the size of oven appliance 100. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2, top heating element 142 is shown as an electric resistance heating element.

As shown in FIG. 1, oven appliance 100 includes a cooktop 150. Cooktop 150 is disposed on and is attached to or integral with cabinet 102. Cooktop 150 includes a top panel 152, which by way of example may be constructed of glass, ceramics, enameled steel, or combinations thereof. One or more burners 154 extend through top panel 152. A utensil (e.g., pots, pans, etc.) holding food and/or cooking liquids (e.g., oil, water, etc.) may be placed onto grates 156 disposed adjacent burners 154. Burners 154 provide thermal energy to cooking utensils placed on grates 156. Burners 154 can be any suitable type of burners, including e.g., gas, electric, electromagnetic, a combination of the foregoing, etc. It will be appreciated that the configuration of cooktop 150 is provided by way of example only and that other suitable configurations are contemplated.

Oven appliance 100 includes a user interface panel 160. For this exemplary embodiment, user interface panel 160 includes a number of knobs 162 that each correspond to one of the burners 154. Knobs 162 allow users to activate each burner 154 and to determine the amount of heat input provided by each burner 154 to a cooking utensil located thereon.

User interface panel 160 also includes a control panel 164 that provides visual information to a user and allows the user to select various operational features for the operation of oven appliance 100 via one or more user inputs 166. One or more of a variety of electrical, mechanical or electro-mechanical input devices including rotary dials, push buttons, toggle/rocker switches, and/or touch pads can also be used singularly or in combination as user inputs 166.

A display 168 of control panel 164 may present certain information to users, such as, e.g., whether a particular burner 154 is activated and/or the level at which the burner 154 is set. Display 168 can be a touch sensitive component (e.g., a touch-sensitive display screen or a touch pad) that is sensitive to the touch of a user input object (e.g., a finger or a stylus). Display 168 may include one or more graphical user interfaces that allow for a user to select or manipulate various operational features of oven appliance 100 or its cooktop 150.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 2, the operation of oven appliance 100 is controlled by a processing device or controller 170. As shown, controller 170 is communicatively coupled with control panel 164 and its user inputs 166. Controller 170 may also be communicatively coupled with various operational components of oven appliance 100 as well, such as heating assembly 140, e.g., heating element 142, knobs 162, temperature sensors, cameras, speakers, and microphones, etc. Input/output (“I/O”) signals may be routed between controller 170 and the various operational components of oven appliance 100. Thus, controller 170 can selectively activate and operate these various components. Various components of oven appliance 100 are communicatively coupled with controller 170 via one or more communication lines 172, such as, e.g., signal lines, shared communication busses, or wirelessly.

Controller 170 includes one or more memory devices and one or more processors (not labeled). The processors can be any combination of general or special purpose processors, CPUs, or the like that can execute programming instructions or control code associated with operation of oven appliance 100. The memory devices may represent random access memory such as DRAM or read only memory such as ROM or FLASH. In one embodiment, the processor executes programming instructions stored in memory. The memory may be a separate component from the processor or may be included onboard within the processor. Alternatively, controller 170 may be constructed without using a processor, e.g., using a combination of discrete analog and/or digital logic circuitry (such as switches, amplifiers, integrators, comparators, flip-flops, AND gates, and the like) to perform control functionality instead of relying upon software. Controller 170 may include a network interface such that controller 170 can connect to and communicate over one or more networks with one or more network nodes. Controller 170 can also include one or more transmitting, receiving, and/or transceiving components for transmitting/receiving communications with other devices communicatively coupled with oven appliance 100. Additionally or alternatively, one or more transmitting, receiving, and/or transceiving components can be located off board controller 170. Controller 170 can be positioned in a variety of locations throughout oven appliance 100. For this embodiment, controller 170 is located proximate user interface panel 160 toward top portion 132 of oven appliance 100.

Control panel 164, including user inputs 166 and display 168, and knobs 162 collectively make up a user interface 180 of oven appliance 100. User interface 180 provides a means for users to communicate with and operate oven appliance 100. It will be appreciated that other components or devices that provide for communication with oven appliance 100 for operating oven appliance 100 may also be included in user interface. For example, although not shown, user interface 180 may include a speaker, a microphone, a camera or motion detection camera for detecting a user's proximity to oven appliance 100 or for picking up certain motions, and/or other user interface elements in various combinations.

In some embodiments, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 3, the oven appliance 100 may include one or more insulated heating elements, for example the illustrated heating element 142 shown in FIG. 3. The heating element 142 may be a top heating element, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 2. In additional embodiments, more than one insulated heating element may be provided, e.g., at the bottom and/or rear of the cooking chamber 104 (FIG. 2), as well as or instead of the illustrated top heating element. In further embodiments, the insulated heating element may be provided at only one of the bottom or rear of the cooking chamber 104 and may be the only insulated heating element in the cooking chamber 104, such as the only heating element in the cooking chamber 104.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the heating element 142 includes an outer surface 144. Also as shown in FIG. 3, the heating element 142 defines a circular cross-sectional shape in the illustrated example embodiment. Thus, the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 in the illustrated example embodiment defines an outer perimeter, more specifically, a circumference 146, of the heating element 142. As is generally understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the heating element 142, when activated such as by flowing an electric current therethrough, emits or radiates heat 200 from the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 to or towards adjoining materials, e.g., the air within the cooking chamber 104 in the example oven appliance 100.

As will be described in more detail below, when the heating element 142 is insulated, the heat 200 from the heating element 142 will be more intense and the emission of heat from the heating element 142 will be more concentrated towards the uninsulated side or portion of the heating element 142, which may advantageously be the side or portion of the heating element 142 that faces the cooking chamber 104, such as a center of the cooking chamber 104 and away from the inner surface 105. For example, by comparison with the prior art uninsulated heating element 142 illustrated in FIG. 4, it may be seen that the heat 200 is more concentrated and focused from a particular side of the heating element 142 when the insulation 202 is present (FIG. 3) versus when the heating element 142 is uninsulated (FIG. 4).

As shown in FIG. 3, the heating element 142 is partially enclosed by insulation 202, e.g., thermal insulation. For example, the heating element 142 may be partially enclosed by the insulation 202 such that the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 includes a first portion 143 which is separated from the chamber 104 by the thermal insulation 202 and a second portion 145 which is exposed to the chamber 104. The first and second portions 143, 145 may collectively define the entirety of the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142, such that the outer surface 144 consists of the first portion 143 and the second portion 145, over at least a portion of a length (e.g., a longitudinal dimension oriented into and out of the page in FIG. 3) of the heating element 142.

As may be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the heating element 142 may be partially enclosed by the thermal insulation 202 and may be positioned adjacent to a top portion of the inner surface 105 with the thermal insulation 202 positioned above the heating element 142. In such embodiments, the heating element 142 may thereby include an upper portion 143 of the heating element 142 which is enclosed by the thermal insulation 202 (e.g., the upper portion of the heating element 142 may be or include the first portion 143 described above in some embodiments) and a lower portion 145 of the heating element 142 which faces towards a center of the chamber 104, and the lower portion 145 is not enclosed by the thermal insulation 202, e.g., is exposed to the chamber 104 (e.g., the lower portion of the heating element 142 may be or include the second portion 145 described above, in some embodiments). The extent to which the heating element 142 is enclosed within the thermal insulation 202 may vary in different embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, in some embodiments, the upper portion 143 of the heating element 142 and the lower portion 145 of the heating element 142 may each comprise about half of the heating element 142. In other example embodiments, the upper portion 143 of the heating element 142 may include about sixty percent (60%) of the heating element 142 or more, such as about seventy-five percent (75%) or more, such as about ninety percent (90%), and the lower portion 145 of the heating element 142 may include the remainder of the heating element 142, e.g., about forty percent (40%) of the heating element 142 or less. In additional example embodiments, the upper portion 143 of the heating element 142 may include about one-third (33%) of the heating element 142 or less, such as about one-quarter (25%) or less, such as about ten percent (10%) or less, and the lower portion 145 of the heating element 142 may include the remainder of the heating element 142, e.g., about two-thirds (67%) of the heating element or more.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the heating element 142 may include a circular cross-sectional shape. In such embodiments, the thermal insulation 202 may contact and cover about one-third or less, such as about one-quarter (25%) or less, such as about ten percent (10%) or less, of the circumference 146 of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element 142. In additional embodiments, the thermal insulation 202 may contact and cover about one half of the circumference 146 of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element 142. In further additional embodiments, the thermal insulation 202 may contact and cover about sixty percent or more, such as about seventy-five percent (75%) or more, such as about ninety percent (90%), of the circumference 146 of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element 142. As stated above, terms of approximation such as “about” are used herein to include plus or minus ten percent, such as plus or minus ten percentage points in the case of a percentage or fraction, e.g., “about one-third” includes 23% to 43%, “about sixty percent” includes 50% to 70%, etc.

As mentioned above, in at least some embodiments, the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 may include the first portion 143 which is separated from the chamber 104 by thermal insulation 202 and the second portion 145 which is exposed to the chamber 104. In such embodiments, the first portion 143 may be surrounded by and in direct contact with the thermal insulation 202. In some embodiments, the first portion 143 of the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 and the second portion 145 of the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 may each comprise about half of the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142. In additional embodiments, the first portion 143 of the outer surface 144 the heating element 142 may include about one-third of the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 or less, such as about one-quarter (25%) or less, such as about ten percent (10%) or less. In further embodiments, the first portion 143 of the outer surface 144 the heating element 142 may include about sixty percent of the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 or more, such as about seventy-five percent (75%) or more, such as about ninety percent (90%). As additional examples, in embodiments where the heating element 142 comprises a circular cross-sectional shape, the first portion 143 of the outer surface 144 of the heating element 142 may encompass about one-third or less of the circumference 146 of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element 142, or may encompass about one half of the circumference 146 of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element 142, or may encompass about sixty percent or more of the circumference 146 of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element 142.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An oven appliance, comprising: a cabinet defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the vertical, lateral, and transverse directions being mutually perpendicular, the cabinet comprising a front portion spaced apart from a back portion along the transverse direction and a left side spaced apart from a right side along the lateral direction; a chamber defined within the cabinet for receipt of food items for cooking; and a heating element positioned within or proximate to the chamber, the heating element partially enclosed by thermal insulation.
 2. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating element is positioned proximate a top wall of the chamber, an upper portion of the heating element is enclosed by the thermal insulation, a lower portion of the heating element faces towards a center of the chamber, and the lower portion is not enclosed by the thermal insulation.
 3. The oven appliance of claim 2, wherein the upper portion of the heating element and the lower portion of the heating element each comprise about half of the heating element.
 4. The oven appliance of claim 2, wherein the upper portion of the heating element comprises about one-third of the heating element or less.
 5. The oven appliance of claim 2, wherein the upper portion of the heating element comprises about sixty percent of the heating element or more.
 6. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating element is partially embedded in the thermal insulation.
 7. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating element comprises a circular cross-sectional shape, and the thermal insulation contacts and covers about one-third or less of the circumference of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element.
 8. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating element comprises a circular cross-sectional shape, and the thermal insulation contacts and covers about one half of the circumference of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element.
 9. The oven appliance of claim 1, wherein the heating element comprises a circular cross-sectional shape, and the thermal insulation contacts and covers about sixty percent or more of the circumference of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element.
 10. An oven appliance, comprising: a cabinet defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the vertical, lateral, and transverse directions being mutually perpendicular, the cabinet comprising a front portion spaced apart from a back portion along the transverse direction and a left side spaced apart from a right side along the lateral direction; a chamber defined within the cabinet for receipt of food items for cooking; and a heating element positioned within or proximate to the chamber, an outer surface of the heating element consisting of a first portion which is separated from the chamber by a thermal insulation and a second portion which is exposed to the chamber.
 11. The oven appliance of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the outer surface of the heating element is surrounded by and in direct contact with the thermal insulation.
 12. The oven appliance of claim 10, wherein the heating element is positioned proximate a top wall of the chamber, the first portion of the outer surface is an upper portion of the outer surface of the heating element and the second portion of the outer surface is a lower portion of the outer surface of the heating element facing towards a center of the chamber.
 13. The oven appliance of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the outer surface of the heating element and the second portion of the outer surface of the heating element each comprise about half of the outer surface of the heating element.
 14. The oven appliance of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the heating element comprises about one-third of the outer surface of the heating element or less.
 15. The oven appliance of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the heating element comprises about sixty percent of the outer surface of the heating element or more.
 16. The oven appliance of claim 10, wherein the heating element comprises a circular cross-sectional shape, and the first portion of the outer surface of the heating element encompasses about one-third or less of the circumference of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element.
 17. The oven appliance of claim 10, wherein the heating element comprises a circular cross-sectional shape, and the first portion of the outer surface of the heating element encompasses about one half of the circumference of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element.
 18. The oven appliance of claim 10, wherein the heating element comprises a circular cross-sectional shape, and first portion of the outer surface of the heating element encompasses about sixty percent or more of the circumference of the circular cross-sectional shape of the heating element. 